Fantasmic for young children?

[cheryterese]

I have been to WDW twice as an adult and have never seen Fantasmic. I would really like to see it.

That being said, my next trip to WDW will be with my three young children who, at the time of the trip, will be almost 5, almost 3 and 18 months. Is Fantasmic too intense for them?

Also, is the wait really 2 hours? Even if it's not too intense for them, I don't know if they can wait in line that long. I did read somewhere that we could bring a picnic in, but is this after waiting the 2 hours or part of the waiting time?

I so want to see this show, but I'm thinking it may not be best to plan on it for this trip.

What would you do?

 

[LuvBaloo]

I've taken my kids to see Fantasmic in both DL and WDW. In WDW you get to sit on benches. And we were in our seats about 45 min before it started. My girls were 6 and 3 at that time. We had snacks and little handheld light up fans. They ate, they played, they got restless, we sang songs, they asked how much longer, we left DH in the seats and went to the bathroom, we sang more songs, we did patty-cake, they played with the fans, etc.
And then they completely loved the show!

This spring in DL, we sat on the ground waiting for 45 min for it to start, my youngest was 4 and she slept on my lap for the entire waiting time. I woke her up when the show started and she was excited to see it.

I do recommend having long-sleeves/long pants (or a towel or something) as depending on the wind, there can be a lot of mist coming into the crowd. My kids have always done better when they didn't have a lot of bare skin getting hit by the mist.

In DL, first time to see it, my oldest was 3 and youngest was 3months, and at 4 and 7. They've loved it everytime.

 

[ktlm]

Fantasmic is a great show, but it depends on your kids as to whether they will be scared. If I were you, I would watch it on youtube and see what you think as far as your kids go. We took my DD last December when she was 2 yrs 10 months. She doesn't normally scare easy. She loved the beginning and the end, but was absolutely terrified in the middle. She hated the Pocohontas part with all the shooting and the villians part. We felt bad for taking her. I watched it on Youtube and thought she would be okay, but I guess I forgot how much more intense it is live and up close. We were sitting really close, and I would recommend with little ones that you sit in the back where it won't seem that intense. I think that would have been much better for her. We went back in May and she told us before we went that she did NOT want to see that show again on our trip (however now she says that next time she goes, she does want to see it). As far as the wait, I can't help you much there. Back in December they had not yet limited the amount of days/times they were showing it, so it wasn't that bad. We had the Fantasmic package and got there 45 minutes early and there were still tons of seats throughout the theater. I've heard that has completely changed with the reduced showings and it can be a complete nightmare, but I have no personal experience.

 

[brymolmom]

My 4 (at the time) child did NOT like it (but didn't cry) and my then almost-3 year old screamed and cried to the point where I had to stand out of view of the show with her.

Was not worth it for us. I would not try it at those ages. If it was easy to 'try' that's one thing - but keepign them up late, then waiting an extended time for it to start - just not worth the risk, IMO.

We haven't been back since. We MIGHT try next time we go - they will be 8 and 6 then.

 

[cheryterese]

My 4 (at the time) child did NOT like it (but didn't cry) and my then almost-3 year old screamed and cried to the point where I had to stand out of view of the show with her.

Was not worth it for us. I would not try it at those ages. If it was easy to 'try' that's one thing - but keepign them up late, then waiting an extended time for it to start - just not worth the risk, IMO.

We haven't been back since. We MIGHT try next time we go - they will be 8 and 6 then.

They don't scare easily but, as you mentioned above, factoring in the wait time, the crowds (there will only be 2 shows a week when we go), and the late night, the much more crowded park for that day......I just don't know!
I'm going to watch it on Youtube later and see if that helps me any.

 

[shrymah]

We went to Fantasmic on our recent trip. I sort of wish we didn't though. It was a good show but it was late and crowded & also brought up a ton of questions from my 4 year old. She didn't get that it was Mickey's dream, wanted to know why he set things on fire... My dd's don't get scared that easily - heck, my 4 year old's favvorite ride at all of Disney was Tower of Terror - but I think the whole experience was just a little overwhelming. If your kids are used to an early bedtime, I would just skip it & try it another time when they are a little older.

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

We were at DHS and went to Fantasmic on a spur of the moment as we didn't even know it was showing that night. You don't need to wait - there were plenty of places for our family of 5 to sit and we got there about 2 minutes after it started.

I REALLY wish we hadn't gone as it was terrifying for my 2 and 3 year old. My 2 year old doesn't scare easily but he had his head buried in my shoulder and was moaning "Scary! Scary!" for most of it.

DH and I had never been and were surprised that it was so focused on the villains - it was like a non-stop showing of all Disney's bad guys on a screen made of mist and much larger than life (which added to the impact). We kept looking at each other and wondering when the good guys would win. It was really hard for the little ones to understand that this was Mickey's dream - and even so, it was one heck of a bad dream!

Plus, they light the lake on fire and you can really feel the heat in the first 10-15 rows and that was the breaking point for my 3 year old as he's scared of fire.

I wish they had spent more time on Mickey "winning" or whatever you want to call it but it was mostly a showing of scary villains and dragons and then a short ending of Mickey conquering his demons.

I won't take the kids again until they're teens! Too intense for our boys at this age (5, 3 and 2), especially so late at night when they're already tired and more prone to emotional meltdowns.

I did get some great pictures, though... as looking through the camera lens was a temporary distraction for my youngest.

ETA - We were there just last week and they had only the 2 showings a week but it wasn't too crowded. The benches were pretty full but there was still lots of empty space when we wandered in right after it started. Definitely not something I'd wait in line for as with little ones you probably don't want to be front row/center anyway. The mist screen is HUGE and being a little bit removed from the fire and larger-than-life villains might make it less frightening. We were in the 11th row and it was too close as we got misted on, felt the heat of the fire, and the villains on the screen were overwhelming.

 

[2princesses2princes]

That's a tough one, all kids are different only you can judege that really. I would say if they are frightened by loud noises and such it might not be a good idea. 3 yrs ago we took our then 7, 5, and 18mos old kids and they all loved it. We are going in December and plan to give it a shot but I am quite sure my then 18mos old now 4yr old will close his eyes and plug his ears. He wont scream, he just absolutely HATES loud noises. 4th of July was no fun for him so I am sure this wont be his favorite activity but he can tolerate it enough so the older 2 can enjoy and my youngest who is 18mos doesn't mind loud noises, she says uhoh and laughs.

 

[HHMcG]

So glad I read this thread. DD (3) scares easy and DS (2) sometimes, too. I can now cross this off our list.